Cloud meets Lucina
by Zizeroid
Summary: A story involving Cloud meeting Lucina for the first time during the Smash 4 tournament (aka during Smash 4's lifespan).
1. Chapter 1

"Haaah!"

The spiky-haired man screamed as he swung his sword at the small boxer (Little Mac), knocking him off the Boxing Ring. As the spiky-haired man spun and sheathed his blade in victory (and by "sheathed", I mean "magnetically attached it behind his back"), he immediately collapsed to the floor on his knees, brushing the sweat off his forehead.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Victory Fanfare -Cosmos- from Dissidia: Final Fantasy _****_)_**

"That…was not an easy opponent." said the man, as he huffed and he puffed. "Luckily, his aerial attacks didn't reach that far, compared to my blade. That was a rather flawed opponent."

"That was quite the performance!" The warrior turned around, but did not get off his knees. The voice came from a gorgeous, green-haired woman who wore a Greek-styled white dress and wielded a gold staff with a blue shield. The man looked up to the woman, almost as if he was kneeling before a goddess. The woman was giggling to herself at the sight of a newcomer to the Smash Tournaments unintentionally kneeling before her.

"What…what's so funny?" asked the man.

"_You._" She pointed to his face, still smiling. "I've come this way to greet the newcomer and the first thing he does is bow before the goddess of light herself, Palutena".

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Order That Must Be Protected from Dissidia: Final Fantasy _****_)_**

"(_Goddess…_)" The man thought to himself, as he hid his face and glared to ground, not wanting to be rude to someone he just met. Something about gods really didn't sit well with this man.

"Is something the matter?" asked the goddess.

"It's nothing…" the man replied.

"Your mouth says no, but the way you looked away from me says otherwise." Said the goddess with a concerned look on her face.

The man closed his eyes. "Let's just say that I've…had a history with somebody with a god complex. And two others who dragged me into a war. They were not pleasant experiences."

"Oh…" muttered the goddess. "I apologize to hear that. But I can assure you, uh…"

"Cloud."

"Cloud, that you're not alone in these parts. I can assure you that you'll have a wonderful experience here!" Palutena stated with a big welcoming smile on her face.

"(_I won't be expecting much._)" Cloud thought rather cynically to himself.

"I promise. You're gonna meet some people who've been through situations worse than you!" The green-haired deity stated happily.

Cloud was rather weirded out by this statement. "I don't think that's something you should state so cheerfully about. Besides, you don't know a damn thing about me."

"Oh, but I've heard a LITTLE bit about you!" Palutena smirked. "I hear you're a legend among humans! Popular enough to rival against the likes of Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, Pac Man, and others!"

Cloud was taken aback by this statement. "A…a legend? Me?"

"That's right!" said the goddess or light cheerfully.

"I…I'm flattered. I'm no legend in my world. Or in that other world that 19 other fighters and I were forced to partake in." Cloud stated, putting a hand on his right hip. Yeah, he saved his world from Sephiroth and successfully defeated Chaos alongside the other Warriors of Light, but for his actions to not go unnoticed in different parts of the universe was quite a surprise for him.

"Tell me…have you been getting along with the other fighters here?" asked Palutena.

"Well…"

Cloud's mind immediately flashed back to the moment he was introduced to the other fighters by Master Hand. Mario, Samus (who was in her Zero Suit appearance at the time) and Fox walked up to him and greeted him with a friendly handshake, Pikachu leaped onto his right shoulder and played with his spiky hair, Kirby leaped into his torso and hugged, Donkey Kong glared at him while giving him a big toothy grin, and lastly, four warriors who go by the names Link, Marth, Pit, and Shulk went up to him and began to, in Cloud's words, "analyze him" (as in, Link was squinting at him, though it ambiguous whether this was in a friendly or hostile manner, Pit and Shulk expressed amazement at the giant sword that he carried behind his back (to the point where Pit asked if could hold it, but Cloud turned him down), and Marth introduced himself as the famous "Hero King" and begun to brag (although he admitted that he didn't like doing so) about his many achievements in the previous Smash Tournaments up until now). He was also greeted by the other "late addition fighters" (aka DLC fighters), Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy, and Ryu. Cloud's mind immediately flashed back to the present.

"I'd say…err…yes in some circles and maybe not in others?" The Buster Basher replied, struggling to find a good answer. As well as embarrassing himself.

"Hahahaha! That's good to know." Palutena chuckled. "Ooh! Actually, I have someone I'd like you to meet! Come with me."

The goddess grabbed Cloud's arm and teleported each other to a different area. The area itself was a medium-sized, circular battle arena with a symbol in the middle.

**_(_****_BGM Fades_****_)_**

"Here we are! Arena Ferox!" Palutena stated as she released the blonde-haired man from her grasp.

"There's no one here." Cloud said as looked around himself. And indeed, nobody was there. No fighters, no audience, nothing. "Are you sure this is the right area?"

"Of course!" said the goddess with a warm smile. "Oh! Here he comes now!"

"He?" Cloud asked with a warry expression.

Enter a short-haired blue-haired masked swordsman from a door near the stands. The swordsman ran down from the stairs, then immediately jumped off from the stands and into the arena with a leap of faith. He landed into the Arena with a three-point landing.

"(_A bit of a showoff, are we?_)" Cloud thought to himself.

"You two have fun now!" said the deity in a motherly-like tone of voice. "I'll be back in 15 minutes."

Palutena then left the arena with a bright flash.

…

…

…

Silence.

It was complete and total silence.

As the two swordsmen stared at each other for a good 15 seconds.

Cloud began to raise his right hand and placed it on the grip of his blade behind his back. The swordsman in turn did the same with his blade which was mounted near his left hip…

…Until the blonde-haired man decided to let go of the grip, lowering his right hand. The swordsman was taken aback by this action and decided to do the same, begrudgingly so.

Cloud began to walk around the circular symbol he was in front of. The swordsman did exactly same.

The two warriors stopped walking around the circle after a full lap. They decided to walk in front of each other, until they were standing two feet apart.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Altar -Main Menu- from Blazblue: Calamity Trigger _****_)_**

"You seem to be enjoying copying my every move." said the spiky-haired man, with his hands on his hips. He was looking closely from bottom to top at the swordsman's stature and couldn't help but feel like this reminded him of Marth for some odd reason.

The swordsman said nothing as he put his own hands on his hips. Cloud rolled his eyes in response.

"So…what's a masked figure like yourself doing here alone?" The Ex-SOLIDER asked, attempting to stir up a conversation.

"**What I am doing here…is none of your business.**" The swordsman replied harshly.

"(_Oof._)" Cloud thought. "Aren't you an interesting one."

"**Flattery won't let you win.**"

Cloud was starting to get annoyed. Who the hell's this guy putting on some kind of bravado?

"…Cloud."

"**Huh?**"

"My name. Is Cloud."

"…**Marth.**" Cloud was surprised by this response as he raised an eyebrow. Another warrior named Marth? "**Judging from your expression…I take it you've already met the ****_other_**** Marth?**" asked the swordsman.

"Yeah. And who are you supposed to be? His fan? His stalker? His copycat?" Cloud questioned the boy, lowering his eyebrows.

"**If you must know…I am Marth. The Hero King.**" The swordsman replied as he boldly stood up against the blonde-haired Buster Basher.

Cloud, dumbfounded by this response, began to squint at him, slowly losing his patience. Cloud took a deep breath to calm himself. "Oh, really now?" The spiky-haired man asked, crossing his arms.

"**Yes. Really.**" The blue-haired man replied back, crossing his arms as well.

Cloud and the other "Marth" began to grit their teeth at each other.

"_There's already a Marth here. There's already a 'Hero King' here_." Cloud said through his teeth.

"**_So? There's another Link here. And another MARIO here_****.**" "Marth" replied as he was getting a little too close to the Ex-SOLDER's face for comfort.

Cloud was weirded out by this response and backed off. "…This is a weird tournament I stumbled across." Cloud stated, no longer gritting his teeth.

"Tell me about it." The blue swordsman said in a different tone of voice that didn't sound like his usual bravado at all. "Marth" immediately realized this mistake and covered "his" mouth as Cloud was starting to loom over him in suspicion.

"You're not Marth." said Cloud.

"Y**-Yes I am. I've been here long before you have.**" "Marth" uncovered his mouth and argued back.

"Take off the mask."

"**No.**"

"Take off the mask."

"**No.**"

"Take off the mask, or I'll do it by-"

**_(_****_BGM Stops_****_)_**

As Cloud attempted to grab the blue warrior's mask, a sword was quickly drawn and aimed at his neck.

"**My name is Marth and that is FINAL!**" screamed the blue swordsman, as he was holding his sword at the Buster Basher's neck and losing patience himself. "**Now draw your blade, ****_commoner_****!**" said the swordsman as he took a leap back and readied himself in battle position.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Duty (Ablaze) from Fire Emblem Awakening _****_)_**

*_sigh…_* Cloud didn't even know what was going on anymore. And the fact that _this Marth _called him a "commoner" made him question if was fighting against the real Marth or a faker. But one thing's for certain: When he met Marth, the _real one_, he didn't call Cloud a commoner nor did he have this bravado persona. Yeah, he spoke highly about his achievements in the previous Smash Tournaments, but that Marth didn't seem like a bad person, Cloud thought. This one, on the other hand…

"Very well, '_my_ _liege_'." Cloud replied sarcastically as he readied himself. This response angered the "Hero King".

Both warriors engaged in yet another staredown, only this one lasted longer than 15 seconds. The Falchion user slowly started moving forward as the Buster Sword user was slowly moving backwards away from the very center of the circle, with both sides stopping in place in a standoff.

**_(_****_BGM Fades, as the screen pauses on the standoff)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_( _****_BGM Playing – JENOVA ABSOLUTE from Distant Worlds IV _****_)_**

"**Prepare yourself!**"

"Oh, do I feel sorry for you."

Both sides leaped into action and begun to swing their blades to clash into an X-shaped formation. Both sides then break apart as Cloud backflips away.

Cloud strikes with an inward slash, but the masked man dodges to his left. "Marth" then rotates his body counter-clockwise and lands a one-handed overarching swing, but the spiky-haired warrior counterattacks with a leaning outward slash, but not without staggering for a bit from the blue swordsman's mighty swing. Both sides attempt to hit each other at the same time (with "Marth" performing a thrusting strike and Cloud performing an overhead slash), but both sides end up missing each other! Cloud and "Marth" begin to glare each other to their left the moment both sides missed.

"**_HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!_**"

Both sides then engaged in a fast-paced Dragon Ball Z-styled clash (aka a Breaking Dragon Rush from DBFZ), but with swords instead of punches and kicks!

"(_By the gods…he's fast! I was expecting him to be rather slower due to him wielding a giant sword! But the way he's keeping up with me…it's incredible!_)" "Marth" thought to himself.

"(_Hrrgh! The way he swung his blade at me and the moment I countered…that was quite a swing! And he's managing to keep up with me! I wondered how much he's been training to be on the same level as me…?_)" Cloud thought to himself.

Both sides broke away from the clash as the two warriors were now on equal footing once again.

"Marth" then summons a silver bow with a quiver of arrows while Cloud unsheathes his blade behind his back and summons a different blade: The Organyx!

"**You won't evade theses!**" yelled the blue-haired specialist as he readied an arrow.

"Perhaps I won't…but I'll at least defend myself!" The blonde-haired specialist replied, as the Organyx glowed in a green color. Both proceeded to exchange a series of arrows and Blade Beams. However, "Marth" was quick to replenish his arrows as Cloud summoned another sword: The Force Stealer!

"**Haaaaahh!**" The masked man yelled as he fired more arrows, until he readies a lance as a final projectile. Cloud was doing his damndest to avoid all the arrows by either slashing them away with his two swords or just simply sidestepping out of the line of fire. Once all the arrows have been fired, the Ex-SOLDIER tosses the Organyx towards "Marth" like a boomerang. The blue-haired warrior was quick to notice and knocked it away with the lance he was preparing. He then discarded the silver bow and engaged the spiky-haired man with the silver lance. Cloud unleashes Cross Slash, but "Marth" is doing his best to keep his footing and successfully block all of the blonde-haired warrior's attacks!

Upon on another successful block, "Marth" performed a thrusting attack, only for the EX-SOLDIER to sidestep to the left. Cloud then rotates clockwise and performs an upwards slash, only for the masked man to enter a defensive stance and counter Cloud's attack!

"**Ha!**" "Marth" unleashes a powerful series slashes and thrusts with his lance as the blonde-haired man takes a chunk of damage!

"Oof!" Cloud winced in pain as he was knocked away by another thrust. The Hero King twirled his lance in victory as he watched the spiky man stumble and crash on the floor.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Prelude (Ablaze) from Fire Emblem Awakening _****_)_**

"**Do you forfeit?**" The masked swordsman asked.

*_pant…_* *_pant…_* *_pant…_* "Y-You're kidding…" Cloud slowly got up as he held up his Force Stealer sideways.

"**Huh?**" said a confused "Marth". Little does he know, the Buster Basher begun to charge his limits. However, this did not go unnoticed by the "Hero King" as he noticed the blue and yellow lines rising up from the ground and rings of smoke emitting beneath Cloud.

"(_He's planning something! I must stop him!_)" "Marth" tossed the silver lance at him, but the blonde-haired fighter just simply jumped to the right to dodge, while still charging his limits. The blue-haired fighter was annoyed by how easily he just dodged the lance, and just decided to straight-up charge right at him with an attack ready.

"Tch." The Buster Basher muttered, deciding to stop charging and readied to defend himself by holding the Force Stealer up in front of the Falchion Fighter. "Marth" came in with another thrust attack, to which Cloud tilt his head to the right…until the masked man rotates his body clockwise, twirling his sword, and performs an uppercut slash beneath the Force Stealer, knocking it out of the Ex-SOLDIER's hand, then slashes the sword away in midair!

"Guh!" Cloud immediately somersaults away from the blue-haired swordsman and summons another weapon: The Hardedge! "Marth", in response to this, summons another weapon as well: A Noble Rapier! "You think such a toothpick of a blade like that can stand up against this?" said the blonde-haired specialist, as he readied himself in battle position.

"**Funny, I could the same thing about that…weird looking ****_slab_**** you're wielding right now.**" The blue-haired man replied. Both sides proceeded to charge at each other with a flurry of fast-paced slashes.

"**Haaaaa!**" "Marth" yelled, unleashing a series of stabs upon the blonde swordsman, but Cloud immediately defended himself by holding the sword sideways. The blue swordsman unleashed an uppercut slash yet again, but the indigo-coded warrior willingly allowed the Rapier to swing underneath the Hardedge, knocking it out of his hand. Cloud quickly leaped into the air to catch the spinning slab, began to twirl the blade, and performs a powerful downward slash, creating a shockwave upon impact!

"**Woaaaah!**" "Marth" squealed, being knocked away from the shockwave that Cloud had created. "**Hrraaaagh!**" The masked man quickly recovers, run towards the spiky-haired man, and then performs an outward slash. However, Cloud was able to defend by holding his Hardedge upwards while crouching. "Marth" rotates his body counter-clockwise and unleashes an inward horizontal slash. The blonde-hair swordsman quickly shifted his slab sideways, and performs a reverse gripped thrust to his left, knocking the Rapier away. "**Hhhaaaaa!**" The blue-haired king rotated his body again, then leaped into the air with a series of circular slashes, then comes back down with a mighty downward slash. Cloud quickly defended himself by holding the Hardedge above him, but the powerful swing was stronger than he expected, knocking him face-first into the ground. "Marth", seeing this opportune moment, kicks the Hardedge of out the Ex-SOLDIER's hand, picks him up by the back of his turtleneck, throws him upwards, and finally, thrusts a heavy-hitting stab through his chest, knocking him away.

"AGH!" Cloud screamed in pain as he was knocked away, before lying onto the ground face-first. The masked man's body began to glow green, as if the damage he took from the shockwave never happened.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Id (Sorrow) from Fire Emblem Awakening _****_)_**

"**Hm. How unimpressive, commoner. Your skills were remarkable, but your performance overall was very sloppy.**" "Marth" stated arrogantly. Cloud, in response to this, slowly got up by lifting his elbows, lifted his head up and glared at the blue warrior. "Marth" pointed his Rapier at the blonde-haired man's face. "**Do you surrender? If you do, I shall forgive you for your attitude in disrespecting the Hero King.**"

"_Look who's talking_." Cloud thought sarcastically. The spiky-haired man slowly but surely got up from the ground, all the while the so-called "Hero King" was still holding his Rapier towards his head. The Buster Basher breathed heavily as he was currently pondering about the opponent that Palutena set him up with.

"**Well?**" "Marth" asked. Cloud held up his pointer finger as if to say "Give me a moment" and turned away, closing his eyes and continued to ponder.

"(_Man, who IS this guy? I've fought tons of strong opponents ever since I got here, but this person seems to be a cut above the rest. Though I can't say this one's above the more dangerous opponents I've fought against, like Sephiroth and Chaos. Those people I've fought against weren't even taking me seriously, yet this one is. Perhaps this is part of this faker's bravado? But then again…I've fought against a lot of people who took me seriously. Including those back on Gaia and World B. But…I can't lose here. I'm not going to lose to this…this faker! For a while back in World B, I've struggling against the concept of fighting, and why it matters…but why I'm losing? Because I'm not taking this seriously? I'm only treating this as what that plumber called "Friendly Competition"…yet some seem to be…not-so friendly. What am I going to do? What should I do? What…hm…_)"

Cloud's mind immediately flashed back to the battles he had against Mario, Link, Sonic, and the many, MANY opponents he fought against long before he reached to this opponent. Mario and Sonic readied theirselves in position, and both gave Cloud a thumbs-up and a cocky grin as if to say "Good Luck!" The plumber's happy-go-lucky attitude reminded Cloud of certain allies back on Gaia and World B (such as Zack and Zidane). Cloud was paired with Mega Man in this fight, who gave him a reassuring, calm smile as if to say "Don't worry, I won't let you down." Cloud thought to himself "(_Everyone seems rather friendly._)" However, there was another opponent he picked a fight with who didn't seem…friendly: Link. Cloud lend out a hand for a handshake, but Link just squinted at him and unsheathed his sword and shield, readying himself. Cloud seemed rather conflicted by this response, but then remember "(_Then again, I've had opponents who weren't all for buddy-buddy. But then again…I was like this before. In both worlds. I wasn't all for making friends either. But I did genuinely care for my friends and the other warriors in the war in World B._)"

Cloud's mind flashed back to the present the moment he felt something playing with the big spike on his hair. Turns out, "Marth" was starting to get bored and starting poking at the spikes on his hair. "(_I wonder what would happen if I put my Bear Hat onto his head…would the spikes spring the hat off?_)" The blue-haired fencer thought to himself, letting out a small giggle until he noticed that the blonde-haired man stopped thinking to himself and started to the blue warrior a weird look.

**_(_****_BGM Pause_****_)_**

"W-Waah!" "Marth" shrieked, very quickly stepping back and pointed his Rapier at Cloud's head again. The masked man grabbed his cape and held it up to cover the lower face, presumably hiding his blush. "D-*ahem*-**Do you yield?**"

"(_Was…was he…playing with my hair?_)" Cloud was dumbfounded from what "Marth" was doing while he was pondering about the situation. Seeing that the blue swordsman wasn't all _THAT_ serious and had a rather silly side to himself, the indigo-coded fighter began think himself. "(_You know what? Maybe I shouldn't take this seriously after all! I mean, the world's not in danger, most of the opponents I've fought against were very friendly (even moreso than my world and somewhat like everyone else in World B, although all of our lives were all stake in that war), maybe…just maybe…maybe this is just a really strong opponent. In fact, a lot of opponents I've been fighting against were very strong! Most of the fighters tended to start off small, then they'd only take things seriously when they're in a dire state. But this one seems to be going all-out! And besides…I know exactly who and what to fight for!_)"

"Marth" lowered his cape, hoping that his blush went away. "**Well?**" Cloud smirked at the blue warrior.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – The Troops' Advance from Dissidia: Final Fantasy _****_)_**

"…Heh. I was only starting off small, yet you were going all out. I'm not going to be taking you seriously. After all, 'my lord'…this is only friendly competition, is it not?" The blonde-haired warrior shrugged, while still smirking. "But if going all-out from the very beginning is your only means of combat style…I'd say it's a rather risky, yet rewarding tactic. And if that's the tactic you want to stick by, then come at me…'Marth'."

**_(_****_BGM Stops)_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_( _****_BGM Playing – West City from Dragon Ball FighterZ _****_ )_**

"**If that's your answer…then so be it. You shall pay for your attitude, _commoner_.**" said "Marth", as he thrusts his Rapier at Cloud, but the spiky-haired warrior tilt his entire body to his right and raised his left shoulder, making the Rapier hit the metallic pauldron on his left shoulder. The clash upon the pauldron caused the Rapier to vibrate and made the masked man's entire body shudder. Cloud, seeing this opportunity, snatched the hilt of the Rapier out of "Marth"'s hand and tossed it away behind him. The blue-haired warrior recovered from the vibration and took offense to this action. The blonde swordsman attempted to apprehend the masked man to reveal his identity, only for the blue warrior to slip out of his grasp.

"(_*sigh*…You know what? I don't care anymore. I don't care about finding out who this person is._)" Cloud muttered. And summoned a new weapon: The Nail Bat!

"**What…is _that_?**" "Marth" questioned, baffled by the large bat with nails that the spikey-haired man was wielding.

"This is a weapon…that will be your downfall!" Cloud readied himself. The blue-haired man snickered slightly at that statement.

"**Oh, will it now? Well then**…**this weapon shall be** **YOUR down-**" Before "Marth" could finish his sentence he summoned…a Parasol! "W-**What the?!**"

"…Heh. Ahahaha…" The Ex-SOLDIER let out a small chuckle and hid his mouth to contain his laughter.

"**This isn't funny! I didn't mean to summon this!**"

"(_Then I guess we're both even in this current situation. Actually…)_"

As the masked man was too busy being distracted being baffled from summoning an umbrella, Cloud quickly ran behind and swings his nail-covered bat to the side of the waste of his opponent.

"**AAGGHH!**"

"There. Now we're even."

"**Rrrrrgh! What a dirty move!**"

Cloud readies another swing, only for "Marth" to block by opening the parasol in front of the swing. "**Woah!**" The collision upon the parasol caused the blue warrior to rotate his body clockwise and fall behind on the floor. "**Oof!**"

"Heh." The spiky-haired man smirked.

"Marth" immediately got up back from the ground and closed the parasol. "**Rah!**" yelled the masked man as he came at the Ex-SOLDIER running with a swing, only for Cloud to nimbly crouch to dodge.

"Hya!" The hard-hitter swung the bat upwards at the Hero King's torso. Then his chin.

"**Ah! Gods!**" "Marth" shook the pain off and readied a swing. Cloud in turn did the same.

_*TWANK!*_

That was the sound the bat and the parasol made upon contact. Both fighters were pushed back as their bodies rotated counter-clockwise. Both swing at each other again (though with more strength), only for the two to whiff, lose their footing, tumbling and spinning forward, then accidently headbutting each other upon contact.

"**Gah!**" "Oof!"

Both clutched their heads in pain, then shook it off immediately. Both specialists then proceeded to deliver a series of fast-paced swings, until the duo began to tire out from constantly swinging two large, silly-looking weapons at each other.

_*pant…* *pant…* *pant…* *pant…*_

Both warriors fell down onto their knees, catching their breath. Both fighters discarded their weapons and were nearly on the verge of defeat.

**_(_****_BGM Fades_****_)_**

"**Cloud…was it?**" asked "Marth".

"Y-Yeah?" Cloud replied, surprised by the masked man calling him by his name and not a commoner.

"**Can you do me a request?**"

"What? Give up?"

"**No. Start taking me seriously. Go all out against me. Come at me, as if you intend to kill me.**"

"Not intere-"

"**Please? If you win, I'll reveal to you my identity.**"

"…Not interested. This isn't fun anymore."

"**I'll…I'll quit this silly bravado if you beat me!**"

Cloud, in response to this, immediately stood up, and casted Cura (aka Cure 2) on both himself and "Marth". The blue-haired fighter was surprised by this action.

"How much do you specialize in magic?"

"Marth" summoned a sword that looked like lightning bolt in response: The Levin Sword!

"(_Hm._)" The indigo-coded fighter thought, as he summoned a giant sword that's just as big as the sword he's carrying behind his back: The Materia Blade! Cloud unsheathed the Buster Sword and planted the blade onto the ground, and kept his distance away from it.

"**Shall we?**" The blue warrior asked. The blonde warrior nodded.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – X vs Zero from Mega Man X5 _****_ )_**

Both sides charged at each other once again.

"**Hraaa!**" "Marth" performs an outward slash, leaving a yellow trail of electricity, while Cloud performs an inward slash, leaving a pink trail of cherry blossom leaves.

"Hnng!" Both sides cringed as they took damage equally. Cloud felt the paint of electricity shaking his body while "Marth" felt the pain of fire heating his body.

Both fighters shook the pain off immediately and exchanged a series of slashes and stabs, albeit slower, more hard-hitting, and more likely to easily land on each other.

"Agh!" "**Rgh!**" "Guh!" "**Ugh!**" "Ow!" "**Gah!**"

Both warriors were losing health fast as the large amounts of hard-hitting magic were putting a lot of strain on their bodies. Cloud, noticing that he was starting to generate a blue aura, quickly moved away from the masked man. "Marth" felt the Levin Sword losing its magic, thought fast and tossed the blade at Cloud, only for the Buster Basher to swing his sword upwards at the near-useless Levin Sword, destroying it.

"Alright! Here it comes!"

The Ex-SOLDIER performed what seemed like a ritual with the Materia Blade, with cherry blossoms circling around the spiky-haired man, then unleashed a large amount of lightning, ice, and fire magic, in that exact order, upon the blue-haired warrior. "Marth" defended himself from the lightning magic, thinking that was all the ritual did, but did not expect the ice and fire magic that was summoned afterwards!

"**Aaaagggghhh!**" The explosion of the fire magic was so great, that "Marth" was launched up into the air. Before he could hit the ground, the masked man performs a double backflip and lands on his feet, but falls back due the large amount of pain that the Cherry Blossom Limit Break had inflicted upon him. "**Ggghhh…a ritual…Ch-Cherry Blossoms…? I never took you for someone who can so…**_elegant_." "Marth" stated, intentionally saying that last word that wasn't in her bravado persona.

"Heh. So does that mean I win?" Cloud asked, placing the Materia Blade on its tip and leaned against it, while putting his left hand on his hip, assuming a cocky pose.

"No…**it's not over yet!**" The Hero King immediately stood up, summoning a tome. "**We're not done yet! _I'm_ not done yet! _Get ready for this one, Cloud_!**" And assumed in position, flipping the pages of the tome, and began to charge a large amount of Thunder magic. Cloud, noticing how dangerous this attack could get, sheathes the Materia Blade behind his back, cups his hands together, and begins charging a glowing, pink orb of energy with cherry blossoms surrounding the orb, in a Kamehameha-styled sort of fashion. "Marth" began to spin clockwise elegantly as the Thunder from the tome began to grow larger, and shoots forward Thoron.

"Haaaaaa!" Cloud jerks his cupped hands forward, causing the cherry blossoms to spread away from the orb, and shoots Flare at the incoming Thoron. As both spells approached upon contact, the result became a large explosion of thunder and fire clashed together, causing a blowback large enough to knock both fighters away. Luckily, both fighters were able to grab onto the ledge of the arena, and safely make back onto the stage. However, both noticed that were was a large, 15ft crater-sized hole in the middle of the arena.

"(_Looks like we overdid it_.)" The spiky-haired man thought, as he ran over to pick up his Buster Sword and made the Materia Blade behind his back disappear. "You okay with this setup?!" Cloud yelled at the blue swordsman.

"**Hmph! This isn't a problem! Let us continue!**" "Marth" boasted, as he and Cloud skid downwards into the crater, all the while the blue swordsman unsheathed his Falchion. Cloud readied himself as "Marth" comes charging towards with a mighty leap. "**Hrrraaaagh!**"

Cloud dodges to his right and thrusts his blade forward, unleashing Climhazzard upon the blue-haired warrior. As he performs as jumping slash, the spiky-haired swordsman attempts an outward slash, only for "Marth" to flip away from the Buster Sword. As both fighters land onto the ground, "Marth" kneels on one knee, readying an attack. The blue swordsman immediately charges at the spiky-haired man with a lunging stab, only for Cloud to counter by spinning his entire body with his blade facing forward, creating a whirlwind around him. "Marth" gets caught in the whirlwind then get tossed away back to where he was. "Marth" plants his sword to the ground to recover, and both fighters come charging at each other and swing their blades to clash into an X-shaped formation again, only this one was stronger.

"Rrrrrgggghhhh…" "**Rrrrrgggghhhh…**"

Both fighters were grunting as they gripped onto their blades tightly, creating a fierce spark between the Buster Sword and the Falchion. By this point, both fighters were starting to take this battle seriously. _VERY, VERY_ _seriously_. Then suddenly…

***_ZZZZZTTTT!_***

"**Aaaaagghhh!**" "Gaaaahhhh!"

Both sides grunt as the spark became so intense, that the Buster Sword and Falchion goes flying out of Cloud and "Marth"'s hands!

_*CHINK!* *CHINK!*_

Both swords were firmly planted onto the ground far away from their users. Both warriors were now face-to-face weaponless, and unable to summon anymore weapons in their place.

"Just because I don't have my sword and I can't summon anymore weapons doesn't mean I can't come at you hand-to-hand." Cloud boasted.

"**Hm! Hand-to-hand…very well!**" The masked man accepted this challenge, as both fighters come towards to each other with fists and kicks flying. "Marth" catches Cloud off-guard with an elbow strike to the stomach and a leaping stretch kick to the face. The Ex-SOLDIER recovers and skids back, and comes at the blue-haired fighter with an incoming overhead punch. "Marth" steps back to dodge, causing Cloud to whiff by punching the ground. "Marth" performs a full roundhouse kick, only for the spiky-haired fighter to duck underneath the leg and leaps towards the blue-haired warrior with a grab.

"Woah!" But rather than grabbing the masked man's face, Cloud accidently ends up grabbing a hair band from the back of the blue fighter's hair, undoing the right braid that the blue warrior tied up and revealed a chunk of long hair on the right side of her head. "(_Long hair…? Interesting…_)" The blonde man thought.

"**Ah! No! Wah!**" "Marth" yelped, distracted as he grabbed on his long hair, then the other braid on the back of his left hair was suddenly undone by Cloud when he rushed in to swipe another hand band. The spiky-haired warrior then wrapped the hair bands around his right wrist. "(_The jig is up_.)" He muttered.

"**N-Noooo**ooooooo! Y-You!" The blue warrior turned to Cloud, who was hiding his hands behind his back. "Marth" walks up to Cloud and began to pout. "Give me my hair bands back! Now!"

"Hmm…no."

"Give them back!"

"No."

"Give them to me!"

"No."

"Give me!"

"No."

"My hair bands!"

"No!"

"BACK!"

"Not interested!"

"**GIVE ME YOU FOOL!**" yelled "Marth?" as he decided to tackle Cloud head-on as both hit the ground behind the spiky-haired man. "Aahhh!"

"Guh!" Cloud winced in pain as "Marth" was laying on top of him, but also felt something pressed against head. Cloud took the mask off his head and then-

…

…Wait a minute…

**_(_****_BGM Fades_****_)_**


	4. Finale - It's a date

The mask was off.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Victory Fanfare -Comsos- from Dissidia Final Fantasy _****_)_**

The Ex-SOLDIER's mind snapped as he noticed that the Hero King's mask was off and _IMMEDIATELY _hid it away behind his back. And raised his chest up from the ground, smiling in victory. "I did it! I won! I-"

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Duke from Tales of Vesperia _****_)_**

The blue-haired fighter raised his head up, hearing Cloud's boasting. The spiky-haired man quickly shushed in silence as he noticed who this fighter _truly_ was. It was a young woman. A gorgeous, beautiful young woman.

"_A woman…? Pretending to be the Hero King? She…she looks very cute…platonically speaking_." Cloud thought to himself as he couldn't stop staring at her.

"Wh-What? Stop staring at me and say something!" The woman said weakly.

"Huh? Oh. Uh…sorry." Cloud said as he shook his head, got off the ground, and lend out a hand to raise the woman up. "Cloud. Cloud Strife."

The woman was surprised to see the man she fought against being surprisingly nice. "…Lucina." Lucina replied as she took Cloud's hand and was raised off of the ground.

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Hollow from Blazblue Calamity Trigger _****_)_**

"You fought pretty good. I-I mean, you did pretty good." Cloud said as he corrected and embarrassed himself.

"You did good as well." Lucina said, giggling.

"It seems that you BOTH did pretty good!" Palutena stated as she appeared next to the duo out of nowhere.

"WAAH!" Both fighters shrieked upon being surprised by the Goddess of Light.

"…In making a mess out of this place, that is." Palutena said, talking about the crater that the three are currently standing in. "Be glad that Viridi isn't here, otherwise she'd be going on yet another rant how humans destroy everything during battles and nature is dying because of them and yadda yadda yadda…"

Cloud and Lucina looked to each other in confusion. "Who's Viridi?" Cloud asked, as the description of this human-hating goddess was quick to remind him of a certain silver-haired swordsman he had a personal vendetta against.

"Viridi is-"

"No wait…" Cloud held up a hand, interrupting the green-haired goddess. "On second thought, I don't care to know and I'm-"

"Not interested?" Lucina interrupted.

"Y-Yeah." Cloud was a little flustered. "Not interested in knowing who this Sephiroth-wannabe is."

"Who's Sephiroth?" Both women asked.

"It's a long story. A very, _very long story_." Cloud replied, as he hid his face and glared to the ground, thinking about the many…_horrible events _that transpired because of Sephiroth. The more he thought about him, the angrier he became as he started to grit his teeth, clench his fist, and-

"Cloud? Are you okay?" Lucina said his name in a concerned tone of voice, noticing his body trembling.

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. Sorry you had to see that." Cloud stopped trembling and took a deep breath.

"Oh, it's alright. I-I've made some enemies of my own and…many of my allies have been slain because of them. Including…including my…my…" Lucina grabbed her cape and hid her face, not wanting Cloud or Palutena to notice that she was now crying, thinking about all the people who were killed by Grima. _Especially_ her father, Chrom.

Palutena and Cloud gave each other a reassuring nod, and hugged Lucina together, comforting her. Lucina let go of her cape and cried onto Cloud's shirt.

"(_It seems we have a have few things in common. We've both put on a bravado at least once or twice in our lives, we've lost those who were close to us, we're both on equal footing in terms of combat…_)" Cloud thought to himself. Lucina, wiped the tears of her face, found herself in the comfort around Cloud's arms and behind Palutena's…*_ahem_*…treasures. The blue-haired woman was blushing hard.

"Um…Th-Thanks for the comfort, you two can let me go now…" Lucina said quietly. Both the spikey-haired man and the green-haired goddess obliged.

"(_Ahhh…In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned such a hateful goddess of nature to two, scarred warriors…_)" Palutena thought somberly to herself. Cloud looked her, then just simply shrugged and smiled, as if to say "_Hey, I know you didn't mean to dig up bad events from our pasts._" The goddess nodded cheerfully in response to this.

"Well, I better go find Master Hand to have this arena fixed. Oh, but before I do…" Palutena stated, as she tapped the bottom of her staff to the ground twice, summoning the Buster Sword and Falchion near their respective users. Both warriors thanked her in response. "You need to get ready for your next battle. It's somebody who's been wanting to see you." Palutena looked and said to the Buster Basher.

"…Alright. I wonder when I'll be done." Cloud asked, looking over to Lucina. "Oh, right…" Cloud grabbed out the mask and hair bands he hid away from Lucina and handed them over to her. "Sorry for attempting to force you to unveil your identity."

"It's alright. It's something I do for fun." Lucina stated shyly to herself.

"For…fun? You've put on a fake impression of the Hero King for fun?"

"H-Hey! It's just my interpretation of the Hero King. And besides, it's not like our worlds are in danger."

"Hm. That's true."

"You two should be glad." The deity interrupted. "That every fighter in this huge event are here to have fun. And not dragged here to fight and kill each other against their will. Like this one in the past." said Palutena as she pointed over to Cloud. Lucina was shocked by this statement.

"(_Forced to fight others…against their will? What treacherous being would do such a thing?!_)" Lucina thought.

"Aaaanyways…I should probably get going." Cloud spoke up.

"Right. Don't worry, Cloud. You only have six more battles to partake in, then you get to do whatever you want." Palutena smiled at him.

"Alright then." Cloud said as he looked over to Lucina and smirked. "(_Hm._)"

Lucina gave him a warm smile. "I'll be waiting." The blue-haired swordswoman immediately covered her mouth, accidently blurting out something she didn't mean to say. Her face was blushing hard.

"Oh! Um…that's a promise…?" The spiky-haired man responded confusingly. Lucina then proceeded to cover her red-rosy cheeks with her mask. "(_Did I just accidently set up a date with her…?_)"

"CLOUD!" Palutena yelled.

"Agh! Sorry! I'm coming!" Cloud said as the blonde swordsman and goddess of light teleported away.

"…Hm…" Lucina was then left all alone, pondering about that…that _handsome warrior_\- Err, _newcomer_ that arrived at the 4th Smash Tournament.

"(_I…I want to know more about him._)" Lucina sighed to herself, putting back on her mask, not even bothering to braid up her hair since she had no one there to help her do so.

**_-FLASH FORWARD TO THE PRESENT-_**

**_( _****_BGM Playing – Dragon Ball FighterZ Results theme (albeit quietly) _****_)_**

"…And that was the story of how I met Lucina."

Said the spiky-haired man as he finished telling the story of how he met Lucina to his friends, who were gathered around in a large circle, in a large dormitory that was above a bar ran by Bayonetta's friend, Rodin. Lucina was sitting next to him, who was fidgeting and slightly blushing.

"Hm…those were quite the fancy weapons you kids had there." Snake said, stroking his bearded chin.

"What a fascinating story, Mr. Strife!" Isabelle said cheerfully.

"A fascinating story indeed…" said Chrom and his date, Reflet (aka Female Robin) nodded in agreement. Lucina smiled to see her father enjoy the story.

"Wish I could've arrived in that tournament a little earlier to witness such a fierce battle." Kamui (aka Female Corrin) stated, who at the time, arrived at the tournament two months after Cloud did.

"Quite the bravado you've put up as 'Marth', Lucina." Richter jokingly stated, to which Lucina took as an insult and squinted at him.

*_clap_* *_clap_* *_clap_* *_clap_* Link (who's based off his BotW counterpart here) was clapping profusely to the story, to which Cloud smiled at him, liking this version of Link more than his last counterpart.

*_clap_* *_clap_* *_clap_* *_clap_* Zelda (who's based off her ALttP/ALbW counterpart here) was also clapping profusely, then used her magic to create mini-fireworks. Cloud and Lucina were flattered and impressed by this response.

"Woo! Woo woo!" Palutena jokingly cheered as she raised her arms.

"…" Luigi said nothing, but smiled and the duo a thumbs up.

"Quite an enthralling tale." Samus said, crossing her legs.

"Quite the action-packed story! Now when are we gonna hear the story about your little date?" Captain Falcon smirked, Cloud raised an eyebrow in response.

"Yeah. Let's hear about your first date!" Shulk demanded.

"Not intere-"

"Don't you 'not interested' us, spiky-boy!" Bayonetta interrupted.

"(_Ugh. I'm tired. I don't wanna tell another story._)" "Spiky-boy" squinted and rubbed his eyes, as he cracked any bones in his body that needed stretching. The blue-haired woman took notice and raised her voice.

"_Everyone_, I hate to this say this, but…I think we should all leave and get to bed. Besides…" Lucina rubbed his shoulders, giving him a massage. "'Spiky-boy' needs his rest."

"Mmmmmph." Cloud moaned as the Princess of Ylisse kept massaging him.

"_Awwww…_" The entire room groaned, who _really_ wanted to hear the story of their first date.

"…Okay, I'll tell you what…" Lucina stated. "We'll make a schedule for next week and _I _will be the one to tell you all the story of our first date. And it'll be at my place."

Everyone in the room murmured in agreement. "Alright then! Next week!" Shulk declared, then everybody except for Cloud and Lucina left the room in the next few minutes. Lucina was busy stretching her limbs, while Cloud walked over to his bed and fell into the mattress back first, eyes closed.

"Cloud, do you comforta-" Lucina turned around to look over at the blonde swordsman, but Cloud was asleep like candle being blown out.

"Zzzzz…"

"Eh…Hehehe…he's all burned out…" Lucina walked over to Gaia's Champion, looked around to make sure no one was looking, and gave him a quick peck on the left cheek.

"Mmm…" Cloud murmured in his sleep.

Lucina walked out the door and looked back at the spiky-haired boy, smiling.

"_I'll be waiting…_" The blue-haired princess slowly closed the door.

**_THE END_**


End file.
